The ASU men's golf team had its best outing of the fall season this week as they grabbed fourth place at the 2002 Duke Golf Classic.
"I was encouraged," head coach Randy Lein said. "I felt for the first time in awhile that we were getting back to winning which is where we should be. I saw good ball striking, a good attitude and good golf."
The 14-team, 54-hole event was held at the par 72, 7,045-yard Duke Golf Club in Durham, N.C. The Sun Devils shot a 19-over-par 883 (299-289-295). After two rounds, ASU trailed eventual winner Augusta State (866) by just four strokes, but an impressive round of 6-under 282 from the Jaguars propelled them from third to first place, giving them the team championship.
Tournament host Duke came in second place, eight strokes off the pace at 874. Illinois (872) checked in third followed by ASU, and Virginia Tech (885) rounded out the top five.
Michigan State, who was tied for the lead going into the final round, dropped all the way to sixth on the last day with a score of 890.
Individually for the Sun Devils, sophomore Jesse Mueller broke into the top 10 by shooting two under-par rounds after a rough score of 77 to open the tournament. Mueller's three round total of 1-over 217 (77-69-71) was good enough for seventh place overall.
"He struck the ball well and played as good of golf as I've seen him play," Lein said. "He made a lot of birdies, just not enough to make it to the top. But seventh place is good for him right now."
Junior Chez Reavie notched his second top-10 of the year after bouncing back nicely from his struggles a week ago. Reavie shot a 3-over 219 (73-73-73) to finish in 10th place after a 49th place outing in Fresno last week.
"He struck the ball as well as I've seen him since his injury," Lein said. "Last week he was just over swinging, causing him to lose a lot of power and accuracy, making him miss a lot of fairways in Fresno. His driving was much improved this week."
Sun Devil senior Brady Stockton, who carded a 6-over 222 (73-73-76), finished tied for 17th while junior Ben Flam tied for 19th at 10-over 226 (76-75-75). Junior Mike Derminio completed the list of ASU golfers with an 18-over 234 (83-74-77) placing him in 49th place.
Augusta State senior Oliver Wilson captured individual medallist honors with a 7-under 209 (72-69-68).
The Sun Devil will now take the next three and a half months to work on their game, as the next tournament is not until the spring portion of the season, which begins February 3-4 at the Ping/UA Intercollegiate.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
